Lightstruck
by Luke Benz
Summary: It was believed long ago that spells of lunacy were caused by the full moon. Red Baker is here to prove to L that you don't need a full moon to be crazy. Or completely insane. And of course, she was also a genius. That was why he needed her help, right?


**Hi. I am Luke Benz. I am also sick, and having writer's block with my poor MelloNear fanfiction. Chana-san is helping me though! I started this one day and I just found it on my thumb drive, so I thought I'd post. I've got chapter 2 ready just in case this becomes popular, but nothing beyond that, so if anyone decides this is worth the pixels it's formed by, send me some ideas about what you want to happen!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own death note, but my friend owns an L shirt!**

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L's owlish eyes flittered over the profile page, absorbing the information like a machine; like the computer that he was reading off of. Like the computer that he pretended to be. Though on the outside he was stoic and straight-faced, he was inwardly horrified.

L, being the great detective that he was, had seen more than his fair share of gruesome murder scenes; bodies mutilated beyond recognition; the evil grins of insane psycho-killers as they were led away in chains, laughing for no obvious reason. But this…just…wasn't _right_.

The girl in the photograph couldn't have been more than 13 years old, her black hair cut to the nape of her neck and curling under at the bottom, two bangs slightly longer than the rest framing her face. Her eyes were fringed by the mess of black hair atop her head, but he could still make out the color: blood red. It wasn't her features that disturbed him, though, so much as the devilish smile she wore. Strike that—it didn't even constitute as devilish. It was plain crazy—it was the kind of smile he'd only ever seen on Beyond. Her wide, gleaming eyes, though, seemed more insane than anything. Just by looking at her L could tell that she wasn't right—hell, anyone could tell that much.

That did explain the white straight jacket she was clad in. Strike that—the white straight jacket stained with red. It wasn't hard to see why it was like that—now that he was paying closer attention, L could see that her red lips were actually stained with blood. And considering that she didn't look injured in any way, he doubted it was her own.

The panda-like detective considered her, chewing absent-mindedly on his thumb. The whole point of her possible involvement in the Kira case was that she was insane, but brilliant. L sighed. _Just like B, and look how _that_ turned out…_

But that was the point, was it not? Beyond would be the perfect asset to the Kira case if only he and L didn't have such a negative affiliation with each other. This girl on the other hand…it was just a matter of getting her to trust him. _And a matter of making sure she doesn't murder anyone on the Task Force…_ Damn it—there was that cynical little voice in the back of his head again.

L scanned through the files attached to her main profile. There was an entire collection of her psychologist's records from their sessions. The detective clicked on the first entry.

_October 14__th__, 2001_

_Patient: Red Baker_

_Session 1_

_This session was mainly to act as an introduction to therapy for Red, though I gathered much more information than I anticipated from a patient brought in forcibly. I can safely assume that Red has either undergone some form of trauma in her childhood, or simply has a chemical imbalance in her brain that causes her violent nature. She is emotionally detached from others, though she is in no way unemotional. I believe a simpler way to put it would be to say that she does not form emotional bonds, or connections, to other people easily. I have proceeded to presume that her reliance has been violated in the past by someone she depended greatly on. It would certainly open up new theories as to her violent nature._

_Physical pain seems to have no affect on her; in fact, she likes to bang her head against the wall, and/or bite herself until blood is drawn. When I questioned her about this strange quirk, she told me that she likes the blood, and the head trauma sustained from her incessant beating on the wall doesn't have much of an effect. Because of her violent and self-destructive behavior, she has been restrained in a straight jacket, and her room is padded on all six sides, including the ceiling._

_Speaking of her more violent tendencies, I suppose that Red's psyche could be compared to that of a feral animal. She doesn't seem to have a conscience or patience to listen to other people, but her actions suggest that she wants attention. As far as her history pertains, Red as always been an only child, and comes from a very wealthy family. Before meeting her, I assumed that it was the typical scenario of a girl who was ignored seeking attention on a desperate level. I still believe that may be the case, but because of the extreme nature of her…tantrums, shall we say, I recognize that her condition is far more severe than that. And her condition, I fear may never lessen…_

L stopped reading there, even though there was still a half a page left to the report. It was almost too much even for him.

"Watari," he called. The elderly man was at the bedroom door in a moment. "Please arrange a visit between myself and Red Baker in Harkins Maximum Security prison. I believe she will be beneficial to this case."

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**Red Baker is based loosely off of some people I know. First, my friend Sierra, who provided the hairstyle and whose characters provided the inspiration for her future clothing. I also base her loosely off of a character from a comic by my friend Keslie's sister Reyanna. And yes, she has much BB in her. Not carbon-copy-ish though.**

**please review, especially if you want to see more story! Flames will be used for my Roy Mustang Cosplay.**


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